Activist priest a fixture of the L.A. liberal scene

Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times

Father Richard Estrada, center, joins an LGBT service at the Holy Spirit Church in Silver Lake. Estrada left the Catholic Church last year over its views toward gays and lesbians, and women's role in the church.

Father Richard Estrada, center, joins an LGBT service at the Holy Spirit Church in Silver Lake. Estrada left the Catholic Church last year over its views toward gays and lesbians, and women's role in the church. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

"I should be retiring, not starting a new career," says Father Richard Estrada, 72, after joining the Episcopal Church last year. "But I had to be true to myself. God is putting me places. He or She is in charge."

"I should be retiring, not starting a new career," says Father Richard Estrada, 72, after joining the Episcopal Church last year. "But I had to be true to myself. God is putting me places. He or She is in charge." (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Father Richard Estrada, a priest who has long catered to L.A.'s immigrant youth, left the Catholic Church last year over disagreements with the church's stances on the role of women and its attitudes toward gays and lesbians.